Is This PSU Enough

[lucaswyrm]

So Im thinking about buying a GPU, cuz at this moment I don't have one, and searching info I'm confused.
GPU that I want to buy HD 7950 Gigabyte Windforce..

CPU- i5 3470
RAM- 4gb x 2 1600MHz
HDD- 500GB 5400rpm(from a laptop)
PSU- "LEPA MX-F1" 500W 80plus bronze

 

[geofelt]

7950 is older tech and needs about a 500w psu with two aux 6 pin power connectors.
If your psu has those two connectors, you are good.

Consider buying a more modern GTX1050ti in the same performance class if the price is right.

And... 5400 rpm drive for windows is a big drag on performance.
Can you manage a ssd instead?

 

[DSzymborski]

Lepa has sold some really solid units made by its sister subsidiary, Enermax. It's also sold some pretty terrible power supplies made by Yue-Lin, using AsiaX and Olive capacitors, which you do not want. Unfortunately, this model is in the latter category, an ancient, poorly designed box without active power factor correction with a white and black checkers paint job so that it looks like a race car.

It's only rated for 360W of +12V power, so I would not put a 7950 in there. You can go around or above 300W in a system with a 7950 in it. HardOCP looked at the 600W on the same platform and actually described it in their teardown as worse than Diablotek, which is a phrase I never thought I'd see, given how notorious that brand is.

"The LEPA MX F1 600W is the WORST power supply we have ever seen and I can not for the life of me figure out how this product made it through Lepa/Enermax's project managers and was released. Lepa/Enermax used to be a real manufacturer of power supplies so it has to still have at least one person there that should have caught this wreck before it was sent to the starting line. If I were to call this product a turd or crap that would be an offense to real turds and crap products like the Diablotek PHD650, Ultra X2 750W Exploding Edition, VisionTek 700W, etc because those units even outclass this one. That isn't a joke, and one of those units was a 550W unit that someone put a 750W label on!"

If anything, I'd go with the 1050ti, which is the same performance tier as the 7950 and uses less than half the power. I'd probably seek to replace the PSU as well regardless of whether or not I was purchasing a GPU.